


come home to my heart

by inthehallway



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: College, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:39:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24281452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthehallway/pseuds/inthehallway
Summary: He’s only been here for a few hours, and she already feels like a piece of her that’s been missing for too long is shifting back into place. But he's going to leave in a few days, and they'll have to say goodbye to each other all over again. She wonders if this will even be worth the pain it's going to cause them both in the end.Two years after graduation, Archie visits Betty at Yale.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Comments: 29
Kudos: 145





	come home to my heart

**Author's Note:**

> this is basically just part two of [this fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24083428) (so you should read it first if you haven't already). there's a little bit of everything in this one: fluff, sex, fighting (because i can't not write angst)
> 
> title is from supercut by lorde (which is a great song that you should listen to because it fits this relationship very well)

For as long as Betty can remember, Thanksgiving has been her favorite holiday.

She knows that objectively, Christmas is better. The music, the decorations, the presents. Getting a few weeks off from school. Archie used to argue with her endlessly over it when they were younger. _How can you like Thanksgiving better than Christmas?_ _Thanksgiving is boring._ He would question why it was her favorite every year, always demanding an answer. But she never had one for him – she said it was just her favorite, there was no particular reason. That was never good enough for him, and every year when the holiday came back around he’d bug her about it being her favorite. _It just is, Archie. People are allowed to have different favorites even if they’re best friends._ She told him that when they were twelve, and he finally accepted it and never asked again.

So it’s been her favorite holiday for a long time. And it’s a strange feeling, knowing she’s going to be spending it alone this year.

She decided not to go back to Riverdale a while ago, though she only broke the news to her mother last week. She’d told her that she had a lot of work to catch up on – papers due, finals to study for. Really, she could have done that all back home. She just didn’t want to. She avoids going back. All that town reminds her of is darkness. Heartbreak. Things she’s chosen to leave in the past. Her mother worried about her spending the holiday alone, so Betty told her that her closest friend at school, Lucy, would be staying behind as well. They live in the same apartment building, and she said they would spend the day together and not to worry because she wouldn’t be alone. In reality, Lucy drove back to her hometown in Massachusetts as soon as her last class finished on Tuesday afternoon.

Her mother asked Betty, tentatively, if it was because of Jughead. It was and it wasn’t. She knew he’d be there, home from Iowa for the short break. They were cordial enough, which was a miracle in itself after how messily they had ended two years ago. She’s seen him a couple times since – a consequence of your parents being in a relationship. So even though the thought of sharing a house with her ex for a few days was less than desirable, it wasn’t the sole reason she wasn’t going home.

The truth is, there’s not much left for her in Riverdale. She’s cut ties with the town, all of the people in it and from it. The only person she really still keeps up with is Archie, though even those conversations are relatively few and far between. She guesses that’s what happens when there’s too much space and hurt between you, but Archie is someone she would never allow herself to lose touch with completely. It’s a strange thing to go from spending almost every day of your life with someone since you were four years old, to speaking to them once in a while. But it’s something she’s had to get used to. It just is what it is.

She talked to him earlier this week for the first time in about a month when he called her out of the blue. The thing about her and Archie is, it’s never uncomfortable or stilted when they catch up, no matter how long it’s been. She thinks even if they didn’t talk for years at a time and he called her up, they could pick up right where they left off with no hesitation. She attributes that to being best friends for most of your life. She also attributes it to the fact that they don’t talk about their feelings, or how she broke his heart two years ago. She doesn’t tell him about how he broke hers, too. There’s no reason to talk about that. There’s nothing they could do about it now. He’s still in Annapolis at the Naval Academy, she’s still in New Haven at Yale. They’re only roughly three hundred miles away from each other, but they might as well be worlds apart. She’s only seen him twice in the past two years, during Thanksgiving and Christmas of last year. They had caught up then, like two old friends and nothing more than that. Neither of them mentioned how they had left things when he left town after graduation. She didn’t bring up the letter, and he didn’t either. She knew it was easier that way, and he must have too. 

They still keep their conversations light and simple, when they do talk. He tells her about his training, she tells him about her writing. They talk about their childhood. They never talk about their future, because there’s no point in that. She told him she wouldn’t be going back home for Thanksgiving, and while there was a hint of disappointment in his voice when he asked her why, he didn’t press the issue any further. He said he was heading back to Riverdale on Wednesday morning. And that was that. 

\--

Betty has just walked into her kitchen, ready to start cooking dinner, when her phone rings. She picks it up off the table, surprised that she’s hearing from him again so soon.

“Hey, stranger,” she says lightly when she picks up. “Calling twice in one week?”

Archie laughs, says, “I just couldn’t stay away.”

She smirks. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Archie starts, “I was just out on a walk and thought about you.”

Betty feels her cheeks heat, then rolls her eyes at herself for still letting him affect her. She decides not to acknowledge that comment, changing the subject. “So you’re back in Riverdale. How is it?”

“You know, it’s weird. It looks different than I remember it.”

“It can’t be that different,” Betty tells him, filling up a pot with water and placing it on the stove. “It hasn’t been _that_ long, Arch.”

“Yeah,” Archie says, with a hint of something in his voice that Betty can’t quite decipher. “Well, what are you doing?”

“I’m about to start making dinner.” Right then, there’s a knock at the door. She has no idea who it could be. Pretty much all of her friends and neighbors have left for the long holiday weekend. “Hold on, someone’s at my door.”

“Who?” Archie asks, and maybe she should have caught onto the humor in his tone. Because when she swings open her front door, he’s the one staring back at her from the other side.

She almost drops her phone in shock. Archie Andrews is standing at her door. In New Haven. The day before Thanksgiving. With a wide grin on his face.

“Surprise,” he says, removing his phone from his ear. Betty says nothing, because she doesn’t know what to say. She continues to gape at Archie, and his smile fades a little. “Okay, not exactly the reaction I was expecting.”

Betty laughs a little, shaking her head. “I think I’m in shock. What the hell are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t let Betty Cooper spend her favorite holiday alone.” He says it so earnestly, her chest aches. She notices then he has a duffel bag in his hand.

“Come in,” she tells him, opening the door wider. He steps inside, looks around the apartment.

“Nice place.”

“Hold on. How do you even know where I live?”

He looks back at her sheepishly. “Funny story, actually. I found your friend Lucy on Facebook and begged her to give me your address. And not to tell you.” He pauses then, thinking for a second. “That sounded less creepy in my head.”

“It would sound creepy if it was anyone but you,” Betty tells him, laughing. She cannot believe Lucy had something to do with this, but at the same time she can. She knows about Archie, of course. The first time Betty had ever told her their story - childhood best friends, cheating, and all - Lucy had declared she was rooting for them to end up together. “And Lucy will be getting a stern talking to for not even giving me a little heads up.”

“Don’t be mad at Lucy. I’m very grateful to her at the moment,” Archie smiles, then looks her up and down in a way that makes her heart speed up. “You look good, Betts.”

She’s blushing, she knows she is. The way he’s looking at her tells her he can see it, too. She takes a moment to really study him. His hair is shorter than the last time she saw him, which she supposes is a result of being in the Naval Academy. His nose is red from the cold. He looks as handsome as ever, but much more grown up and mature now. He’s not the boy next door anymore. “You look good, too,” she tells him. She can’t remember the last time she ever felt nervous around him like this.

They both just look at each other for a moment, smiles still lingering. She’s still having a hard time believing that he’s really standing here in her apartment, that this isn’t just a dream. Finally, Archie breaks the silence. “Wanna get dinner?”

\--

They walk to a little Italian place near her apartment, the cold air biting at their faces. Archie tells her how difficult his training had been the past few weeks as she twirls spaghetti around on her fork. She tells him about how she was chosen to write the front page story for the school paper last month. It’s nice.

They finish their dinner, and the check comes. When she reaches for her wallet in her bag, Archie says, “I got it, Betty.”

She doesn’t fight back out of sheer confusion. Is this a date? Is he just being nice? Is this a _date_?

She doesn’t know why it would be. Despite everything, Archie still has never found out how she feels. Felt. Whichever it is. He left before she was able to tell him, and then she just never did. So she’s lived the last two years keeping it a secret, and he’s lived the past two years thinking his feelings were unrequited back then. She doesn’t know if they even exist anymore now.

That’s why she finally brings it up, on their walk back to her apartment. “You never said why you’re really here.”

“I already told you. I couldn’t let you spend your favorite holiday alone. Even though-”

“Christmas is better, I know.” He grins when she cuts him off. “But really, Arch. Why did you come?”

He doesn’t answer right away, and they walk in silence for a few moments. She watches him as he thinks. “I guess I just missed you. And I wasn’t exactly looking forward to going back to Riverdale,” he explains, “and when you told me that you weren’t going back, it did make me sad that you’d be alone. That is actually part of the reason, too.”

Betty smiles. He may be more grown up, but he’s still the same earnest Archie she’s always known. “So how long are you staying?”

“Until Saturday. If that’s okay with you.”

“More than okay,” Betty tells him, quietly thrilled at the thought of having him for that long. It’s only Wednesday night now. They’ve got days.

Archie pulls the rug out from under her, though, when he tells her, “I’m not going back for Christmas, either.”

Betty tries to hide the gloom in her voice. “Why not?”

“My mom wants to spend it in Chicago with my grandparents, so I’ll be going there.” He looks at Betty, a sad smile on his face. “So this was really the only time we could see each other for a while.”

Betty nods, understanding. After he leaves on Saturday, who knows when they’ll get to see each other again. She feels the disappointment sink in, her chest tight. Instead of telling him she’s sad, she asks, “How is your mom?”

When they walk into her apartment ten minutes later, her eyes fall to the pillow and blanket sitting on the couch that she’d placed there before they left. She had honestly, for a second, thought about just offering to let him sleep in her bed with her. She almost told him it wasn’t any different than the sleepovers they had as kids, but stopped herself because she knows that isn’t true.

After they say goodnight, Betty lays in bed, staring at her ceiling for what feels like hours. _What are we doing?_ she thinks.The man she maybe still loves is on her couch. In the next room, but still close enough that she can hear his even breaths as he sleeps. He’s only been here for a few hours, and she already feels like a piece of her that’s been missing for so long is shifting back into place. But what happens when he leaves in a few days, and they have to say goodbye again? She wonders if this will even be worth all the pain it's going to cause them both in the end.

She doesn’t fall asleep for a long time.

\--

The next day as she’s showing him around the campus, he tells her, “I’ve been thinking a lot about when we were kids.”

“Yeah?” She asks, recognizing that gloomy look in his eyes.

Archie nods, taking a sip from the coffee in his hand. “It happens a lot around the holidays. I guess because of my dad. I just like to think about when I was younger, you know?”

Betty nods. She thinks about it a lot, too.

Archie continues. “Remember how you’d always come over after Thanksgiving dinner at your house?”

Betty feels a smile stretch across her face. She remembers it so well. “And we’d eat pumpkin pie with your dad.”

“Yeah,” Archie says wistfully, “and then we’d watch a Christmas movie.”

“You always picked The Santa Clause,” Betty remembers, laughing.

Archie laughs too. “It’s a good movie!” The first time they ever had a sleepover was the night of Thanksgiving when they were five years old. They made it a tradition, and did it every year after that. She starts to wonder why they ever stopped, then quickly remembers – he met Veronica, she fell for Jughead, and suddenly their worlds didn’t revolve around each other anymore.

Betty stops walking, looks him in the eyes. “I miss your dad, too.” Archie’s expression sobers, so she tries to lighten the mood. “Best pumpkin pie I ever had.”

That gets a smile out of him. Then a look crosses his face, and he says, “I have an idea.”

And that’s how they end up sitting on Betty’s couch, sharing a store-bought pumpkin pie and watching The Santa Clause on Thanksgiving Night. It’s not a Fred Andrews pumpkin pie, but it’ll do.

“Honestly, this movie is even better than I remember,” Archie mumbles through a mouthful of pie.

Betty chuckles, putting her own forkful in her mouth. She glances at Archie, admiring the boyish delight on his face. In this moment, it’s so easy to transport back to them being kids, sitting in the living room in the Andrews house. It feels like a different lifetime, but still so familiar. She misses it. That’s why she says, “You want to know something?”

Archie nods his head as he chews, still looking at the television.

“There is a real reason that Thanksgiving is my favorite.”

Archie raises his eyebrows at that, now fully turning to look at her with humor in his eyes. “Go on. This is something I’ve been dying to know basically my entire life.”

Betty rolls her eyes affectionately. She takes a breath, about to reveal a truth she’s been holding onto for as long as she remembers. “It’s because of this. It never had anything to do with the actual holiday.”

Archie stares at her, processing her words. After a moment, he places the pumpkin pie on the table in front of them. Then he says, “Okay.”

Betty’s confused. “…Okay?” She was expecting a little more than that, after so many years of him bugging her about it.

He looks right into her eyes, and she feels her heart start to thump against her chest. “Okay,” he repeats, and then he’s grabbing her face and kissing her. 

Betty gasps in surprise, reaching up and holding his wrists that frame her face out of reflex. Suddenly Betty remembers why kissing him in his garage years ago caused so many problems, so much emotional turmoil – because it felt like _this_ , like it never has before, and she didn’t know how to handle that. She still doesn’t now.

He’s crowding her space now, and she can feel him everywhere. His knee touching hers, his warm palms on her cheeks, his tongue teasing her own. Her entire body is on fire. Her mind is trying to catch up with her body as she kisses him back. She can’t believe this is happening, but what did she really expect?

He finally pulls back a little, still close enough that she can feel his breath on her cheek. “We’re missing the movie,” he heaves, giving her a chance to stop this if she wants.

“I don’t care about the movie.” She connects their lips again, and she can feel Archie’s smile.

“That offends me,” he mumbles against her mouth, “I like this movie.”

“Let it go,” Betty teases, placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “It was never that great.”

She stands then, grabs the remote and turns the television off. Archie is looking up at her from the couch with those puppy dog eyes she knows all too well. This is a dangerous road they’re going down. It could fuck everything up, and in the end is probably going to make things much harder either way. But Betty is tired of trying to fight it. So she grabs his hand, says, “Come on.”

He stands without question, letting her lead him to her bedroom. She turns to face him once they’re inside, and the look he’s giving her tells her she couldn’t resist him if she even tried. She stands on her toes to kiss him again, pulling at the hem of his sweater until it’s over his head. He stops then, one hand resting on the side of her neck. “Are you sure?”

“Archie,” she says, reaching down to peel her own sweater off. She unbuttons her jeans next, stepping out of them, feels his eyes burning into her skin the whole time. “I’ve been sure since I was sixteen years old.”

That’s all it takes for him to lose it. He’s kissing her again, hard, any reservations he seemed to have about doing this out the window. He slides his hands across her back, reaches her bra and unclasps it. She lets it fall, and then he’s cupping her, groaning in her mouth. She thinks, _if my sixteen year old self could see me now._

She grabs at the waistband of his jeans, finds the button and undoes it. He pulls away to step out of them. Desire is burning in his eyes, and Betty can’t believe he’s looking at _her_ like that.

She pushes him back onto the bed, climbing on top of him. She can feel how hard he is through the thin material of his boxers, and she can’t hold in her moan. She places a hand on his abdomen, feels how hard it is under her palm. All that training has done him _well_. He reaches up to grip her hips. “Betty,” he whines, “I want you so bad. You have no idea.”

“Me, too,” she whispers breathlessly, biting at his jaw and then his lips. Without warning, he flips them over, his body now pressed on top of hers. He kisses down her neck, between her breasts, down her stomach until he reaches her abdomen. She lifts her hips as he pulls off her thong, tossing it across the room. She doesn’t think she’s ever been this turned on in her whole life. He finally touches her then, and they both gasp. This moment, right here, feels like the culmination of their entire lives together.

“Arch,” she groans, grabbing at his wrist to halt his movements. “I want you inside me. Now. Please.”

Archie smirks, lifting his fingers into his mouth to lick them clean. “Since you asked so nicely.”

Betty thinks she might die. She watches as he leans over the bed, reaches down to his jeans laying on the floor. She digs through the back pocket for his wallet, then opens it to pull out a condom. He pulls his boxers down, throwing them across the room in the same way he did her underwear. He rips open the package, but she stops him. “I want to.”

He lets her take it from him without a word, looking at her in a way she’s never even dreamed of being looked at in her life. When she rolls the condom on, he closes his eyes, his brows pinched in concentration. She bites her lip with a smile. Seeing the effect she has on him is driving her crazy. “I swear,” Archie starts, laying back on top of her once she finishes. “I’m not going to last even a minute with you.”

“Why’s that?” Betty teases, but she can still hear the desire in her own voice.

Archie kisses her again, then trails his lips to her ear. “Because I’ve wanted this for _too_ long.”

“Me, too,” she tells him, panting now in anticipation. “I have too.”

When he positions himself, he whispers, “Okay?”

“Okay,” Betty breathes out.

Having him inside of her is the most intense thing she’s ever experienced in her life. It’s never been like this before, not even close. Every single cell in her body is on fire, screaming _finally_.

Despite his warning, he lasts a lot longer than a minute. She can tell he’s ready, but he tells her he wants her to finish first, reaching down to circle her with his fingers. Her entire body shakes and they both groan, letting go together.

They lay like that for a while, trying to catch their breath. Then Archie kisses her, so deeply like he thinks he’ll never get the chance again. Betty grips the short hair at the back of his neck, pressing him into her even harder. He pulls back, both of their chests heaving, still breathless. Betty isn’t sure she’ll ever be able to breathe normally again. He pulls out then, rolling over next to her. “That was…” he doesn’t finish, like he doesn’t even have words to describe it. She knows the feeling.

“It was.”

They’re both quiet for a moment, the sound of their breathing filling the room as they look at each other. “Definitely something to be thankful for,” he quips then, grin stretching across his face.

Betty laughs, rolls over and gets off the bed, standing up. Even with her back to him, she can feel Archie’s eyes on her. “Where are you going?”

“To get the rest of the pie,” she tells him, like he should know better. It’s his turn to laugh then.

She walks back into the living room, picks up the pumpkin pie and the two discarded forks off the table. She has a slight moment of panic then. _I just had sex with Archie. I’m walking around my apartment, naked, while Archie watches. I’m about to eat pumpkin pie, naked in my bed, with Archie._ _Archie is naked in my bedroom._ She lets the moment pass, telling herself to relax. When she gets back into her room, Archie is walking out of the bathroom. She crawls into bed, holding the pie in one hand as she lifts the covers for Archie with the other. He slides in next to her. She hands him one of the forks.

“You know,” he starts, digging his fork in. “Maybe you were right all along.”

She raises an eyebrow at him in question, taking her own bite.

Archie grins at her. “I think Thanksgiving is the best holiday.”

\--

Betty jerks awake, disorientated for a moment when she first opens her eyes. She feels a weight across her stomach, wondering what it is. Then she remembers. She sighs, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat.

“What’s wrong?” Archie mumbles from behind her.

She was hoping she didn’t wake him. “Sorry. I just had a bad dream.”

“What was it?” He asks, sounding a little more alert now.

She thinks of the dark sky, the violent ocean. She was chasing after Archie on a dock, the strong wind whipping her hair into her face. She was pleading with him not to leave, when he turned around with a dark look on his face she’s never seen before. “Leave me alone, Betty. Don’t you get it? _I hate you_.”

Then suddenly she was alone on the dock, crying, watching a boat in the water as the waves crashed around it. Archie was on it, staring back at her with a hard look. She was screaming, begging him to come back. He just watched her as the boat moved further away from her, saying nothing in return.

“It was nothing,” she tells him, placing her hand on top of his resting on her stomach. “I dreamt that I got a bad grade on an exam that I studied really hard for.”

He huffs a laugh. “Betty Cooper, studious even in her dreams.” He kisses her shoulder, tightening his arm’s grip. “Go back to sleep.”

She closes her eyes, and tries to erase the sound of him telling her he hated her from her memory.

\--

She wakes up early the next morning, the sun peeking in through her curtains. Archie is still sleeping beside her, snoring lightly. She slides out of his grip as slowly as she can, careful not to wake him. She looks at their clothes strewn across her floor and can’t help the smile that forms on her face. Last night really happened.

She picks up his blue sweater at her feet, pulling it over her head as she walks out of the room and into the kitchen. It hangs down the middle of her thighs, the sleeves going past her fingers. Her entire body is sore, she realizes, as she stretches her arms over her head. It had been a while.

She decides to make pancakes, pulling the flour out of the cabinet and the eggs and butter out of the fridge. As she mixes the ingredients together, she thinks about how Archie is already leaving tomorrow. When he got here, it felt like Saturday was worlds away. Now they only have one day left together.

She’s just pouring the first pancake in the pan when he says, “You look good in my clothes.”

She turns her head to look at him, trying to hide her smile as he walks towards her, boxers slung low on his waist. “You think?”

“Mhm.” He nods, placing his hands on her hips when he reaches her from behind, kissing her on the cheek. She feels them heat. This feels so domestic, so normal. She imagines for a moment, that they could really have this. She feels sadness blooming in her chest, then pushes the thought away before it can grow anymore. “Looks good,” Archie says, glancing over her shoulder. “Can I shower quick?”

Betty nods, still trying to tamper down the gloom she’s suddenly feeling. She hears the shower start a minute later, and continues making the pancakes to the sound of running water. It’s freezing in her apartment, goose bumps rising over her legs. She walks back into her room, looking through her drawer for a pair of sweatpants. She realizes then she doesn’t even know what time it is. Archie’s phone is sitting on her desk, and she picks it up to check. She doesn’t expect to see a message on his home screen, sitting there unread. She doesn’t even mean to look.

1:23 AM **  
****Emma  
**_I miss you babe_

Betty’s heart stops. She stares at the screen in disbelief. He has a girlfriend. He has a fucking girlfriend. She’s absolutely furious, but at the same time feels strangely calm. She thinks she’s in shock.

She puts the phone back where she picked it up from. Walks back into the kitchen, makes more pancakes. She hears the shower stop and waits. Archie joins her back in the living room a few moments later, his hair damp. He rummages through his duffel bag on the couch, looking for a shirt and pants. Betty says nothing. He walks into the kitchen, opens the fridge and pours himself a glass of milk, says “I’m starving.” Betty says nothing.

When they’re sitting across from each other at her small kitchen table, as she watches him take his first bite, she asks, “Who’s Emma?”

Archie almost chokes. “What?”

“You heard me.” Betty drops her fork, Archie gaping at her in bewilderment. “I was in my room looking for a pair of pants. I realized I didn’t even know what time it was, and I saw your phone sitting on my desk. I looked at it to check the time. Imagine my surprise when a text that said ‘I miss you babe’ is what I saw.”

Archie closes his eyes in realization, covering his face with his hands. He says, like he already knows what she’s thinking, “Betty…”

She shakes her head, panic bubbling in her chest. “Oh my god. You have a fucking girlfriend.”

Archie looks up at her in alarm, as she stands from her chair and walks away. “No, Betty. No!”

“I’m such an idiot.” Archie grabs her arm to stop her, but she yanks it away. “Let go of me.”

“I do not have a girlfriend,” he tells her sternly, “I swear to you. I would not do that.”

“Why not? You’ve done it before.” He looks like he’s been slapped, and she regrets it immediately. She can tell he wants to bite back, but he holds his tongue. He’d be right to call her out – it’s not like he’s the only one who’s done it.

He takes a deep breath, keeping himself calm. “She is not my girlfriend. She _was_ my girlfriend. I have no idea why she texted me that, okay, I haven’t even spoken to her since I ended it.”

“And when was that?” Betty questions.

“What?”

“When did you end it with her?

Archie pauses, sighing in frustration. “Two weeks ago.”

“Two weeks ago,” Betty repeats incredulously. He called her a week ago. He told her that he decided to come after they spoke a week ago. One week after he’d broken up with her. “You broke up with her two weeks ago, and the first thing you do is come running to me?”

“What?” Archie says, shaking his head in confusion. “What are you even talking about?”

Betty really thought she had finally let go of their past. It’s been _years_. But she thinks of Archie trying to tell her a little part of him always thought they’d end up together once she got with Jughead and he got with Veronica. She thinks about him singing her a song at prom, while Veronica watched. “You only want me when you can’t have me, that’s what it’s about.”

“What?” Archie says again, more exasperated than before.

“It’s true! First Veronica, now this Emma girl,” she shouts.

Archie looks at her in disbelief. “Veronica? This is about Veronica now?”

Betty crosses her arms, shaking her head in frustration. He doesn’t get it. “It’s not about Veronica. It’s not about anyone but you.”

That gets to him, and now he’s mad. “Fine. You want to know the truth? You want to know why I keep ‘running back to you’, why it never works out with anyone else? Do you?” Archie says, with a look in his eyes that’s daring her to try and stop him. She doesn’t. “It’s because they’re not you.”

Betty inhales quietly, stunned at his words. His gaze is burning through her, so much so that she has to look away. She doesn’t know what to say.

“I don’t know why it even matters to you,” Archie says under his breath, annoyed.

“Why it matters? We had _sex_ , Archie.” He really thinks she wouldn’t care that he was dating someone?

“Right,” Archie says bleakly, “That’s the only reason. Got it.”

Betty’s confused. A second ago she was angry at him, but now he’s angry at her and she doesn’t understand why. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Archie sits down on the couch, head in his hands in frustration. Betty stays standing, watching him. After a moment, he looks up at her, heaving a sigh. “I just mean… that it was more than sex for me.”

“And you think it wasn’t for me?”

“I don’t know! I have no idea how you feel, because you don’t _tell_ me.” He shakes his head at her.

“You don’t tell me, either,” Betty fights back, weaker than before.

“I don’t need to tell you,” Archie says, irritated. “I already _told_ you. You’ve known how I feel for years. It’s all been up to you since then, but you just act like it never happened. You won’t talk about it. We had sex and we didn’t even talk about it. We never talk about _anything_.”

“Fine,” she says defiantly, “then let’s talk.”

Archie stares back at her, staying quiet. Then he stands again, getting closer until they’re just inches apart. “I know you read the letter,” he says accusingly, “and you never said a word to me about it.”

Her chest tightens with panic. So they’re doing this now, then. She should’ve known this is how this would end up. She thinks of the letter, tucked away in her nightstand drawer next to her bed, just in the next room. She remembers how she cried for days after he left. How he called her up a few months later to catch up, like nothing had happened. She thought maybe he changed his mind, or regretted it. Sometimes it felt like it was all just a figment of her imagination, some elaborate dream. She realizes now that he was waiting for her to make a move – say something, anything. And why wouldn’t he? He told her exactly how he felt. How could she expect him to keep doing that when she was giving him nothing in return? She doesn’t know what to say to him. She can’t defend herself, because he’s right – she never said a word about it. “I thought it would be easier that way.”

“How?” Archie asks. He’s not really angry anymore, just perplexed now.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs helplessly. “It’s not like it would change anything. You were still gone.”

“I agonized over it for weeks, Betty. The fact that I poured my heart out, and you had nothing to say back to that. How do you think that made me feel?” Betty says nothing, looking away from him. “If you had just told me you didn’t feel the same after you read it… that’s what would have been easier, in the end.”

Betty can feel herself start to cry. She knows she owes him an explanation, but she doesn’t know how to give it. “Arch,” she starts, then pauses trying to collect her thoughts. “That’s not what happened.”

“Then what happened?” He questions. She looks at him, the hurt in his eyes, the furrow in his brow. He’s confused, and he’s begging her for the truth. She feels the first tear fall down her cheek.

“The morning you left, I went to your house to tell you how I really felt. That I felt the same as you. But it was too late. You were already gone.”

Archie gapes at her in disbelief. She feels horrible. “How could you not tell me?”

She hears the hurt in his voice, and pleads with him to understand. “It wouldn’t have changed anything, Archie.”

He shakes his head at her, disagreeing. “It would have changed everything.”

“No. Listen to me. Either way, we were both leaving. You were right when you said the timing was wrong. It just would have made everything so much harder.”

“That isn’t fair, Betty. I deserved to know.” He’s right, it isn’t fair. None of this is fair. “I spent the last two years wondering how you felt, if you even felt anything at all – and you were just hiding it all along? Because you thought it was _easier_?”

“I’m sorry,” Betty cries. She never wanted to hurt him, she still doesn’t now. “But it would have complicated things. _This_ complicates things. Think of how much harder it’s going to be now, with what we’ve done.”

Archie looks taken aback at that. “So you regret it?”

“No! Of course not,” Betty answers quickly. She could never regret it. But also she knows she’s right. Sex complicates things. Sex with feelings complicates things even more. He leaves tomorrow, gets on a train back to Annapolis, leaving her behind yet again. And nothing they say or do is going to change that. “But think about how hard it was to say goodbye to each other two years ago. It’s going to be so much worse now. And I knew this would happen if I told you how I felt, which is why I never said anything.”

Archie nods sharply. “You were protecting yourself.”

“I was protecting both of us.” She tries to make him understand, though her words seem lost on him.

“No, Betty. You’re protecting yourself, because you’re scared of what we could be. You always have been. It’s why you always push me away.”

She feels like they’re talking in circles. How many times are they going to have this same fight? Despite herself, she accepts defeat. “You know what, you’re right,” Betty cries back, “I’ve always been scared. I’m scared of what we could be, of what could happen if it doesn’t work out. I’m scared because you’re my best friend in the world, and I don’t want to do anything to ruin that.”

Betty knows the timing wasn’t right for them back in, and it still isn’t. It’s why she’s tried so hard to hide how she feels from Archie, because she knows he wouldn’t let her run from it anymore once he found out.

“You’ll always be my best friend. It will just be even better if we’re together.” He grabs her hands, the same way he did two years ago, when he was begging her for a chance. “We aren’t going to mess it up.”

He still hasn’t changed – Archie always sees the good in every situation. It’s something she’s always loved about him. But it can also be the most infuriating thing about him too, when the bad is glaringly obvious and he chooses to ignore it.

“You don’t know that!” Betty shouts. “Look at what happened with Veronica and Jughead. We never thought anything would go wrong there, that we could ruin those relationships. And look at us now.”

Archie looks at her like he’s offended. “That’s completely different.”

It is, she knows. Cheating on someone is much different than a relationship falling apart because of other factors. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be just as hurtful, or messy, or life-altering. “That doesn’t mean it couldn’t end just the same.”

He shakes his head in frustration. “So what? We just never try, because it could go wrong? How is that any way to live?”

“I’m not saying we never try. I’m saying we can’t try _now._ ” She needs him to comprehend that. She’s so tired of fighting with him. It’s not that she wants it to be this way. It’s just the way that it is. “There’s too much to lose, too much that could go wrong now. Think about it, Archie. Really think about it. What can we do, at this point? We live in different states. We don’t even know when we’re going to see each other again. Long distance never works.”

“It could-”

Betty cuts him off. “You barely have time to _sleep_ with how grueling your schedule is, you said it yourself. Mine isn’t much better. So what, we see each other a few times a year, and that’s it? And then we graduate, and you enlist, and then what?”

Archie’s shoulders slump in defeat. “I don’t know.”

Betty hates herself for doing this to him, for ruining his perfect illusion of what they could be. But she’s always been the realism to his optimism. “The timing wasn’t right then, and it still isn’t now. And I hate it. But it’s the truth.”

Archie looks at her, and she knows his expression of agony mirrors her own. He pauses, then simply says, “You’re right.”

“I wish I wasn’t,” Betty tells him, crying again. She wishes she was the kind of person who could believe that this could work, that they could be together now. That it wouldn’t end in heartbreak. But Betty isn’t willing to risk the most important relationship in her whole life to try at this point. No matter how much her heart is screaming at her to go for it, her brain is telling her it isn’t the right time still. When it’s right, it shouldn’t be this hard.

Archie sighs, dejected. “So what do we do now?”

“The only thing we can do. We spend today together, and then you go back to Annapolis tomorrow.” She shrugs sadly. Archie reaches forward, wipes the tears from her cheeks gently. He nods without a word, and he looks so sad, her heart aches.

She doesn’t even plan to say it, but she can’t help it in that moment. Now that they’re on the same page. Now that they know what this is, and what it isn’t. “I love you.” She covers his hand on her cheek with her own. “I’m sorry I ever made you think any different.”

Archie sighs heavily, his face still crestfallen. He kisses her then, and Betty gets lost in it. She doesn’t even know how long they stand there, but when he pulls back with tears in his own eyes he says, “I love you, too.”

\--

Betty doesn’t think she’s ever been so exhausted in her life. After their fight earlier, after they finally admitted they loved each other, they made sure to show each other just how much. On multiple surfaces. Betty isn’t sure she’ll ever look at her apartment the same way again.

They holed up here all day, trying to make the most of the rest of their time together. The thought of him leaving tomorrow sat in the back of her head the whole time, despite her trying to ignore it. She knows she was right earlier, that this is for the best. It doesn’t make it any easier, though.

The moon shines in through her window, the only source of light in her dark room. She admires the way it reflects off Archie’s face as he lays next to her, making him look even more beautiful if even possible. They’ve been comfortably quiet for a while when she works up the courage to say it.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier.” He looks at her in question. “About…the text. I know you wouldn’t do that. I was just freaking out.” She hasn’t stopped thinking about it since, the way she spit the words at him. _Why not? You’ve done it before._

“It’s okay, Betty. I get it.” Archie gives her a look of understanding, but she still feels guilty. He’s always too understanding. “I really have no idea why she said that.”

“How long did you date?” She asks, just because she’s genuinely curious.

“Two months. It was never even serious between us, I promise. It was more of a distraction than anything.” She feels bad that he feels like he needs to convince her, but why wouldn’t he with the way she overreacted earlier. Then he says, “When I ended it, she asked me why. I told her it was because I still wasn’t over someone else.”

Betty runs her finger over the scar between his brows, which has always been one of her favorite parts of him – an imperfection that’s always been perfect to her. She kisses him softly, because she has to after what he said. Then she pulls away, keeping her head on his pillow.

She thinks about how she brought up Veronica and Jughead earlier. She doesn’t even know why she asks, but she just wants to know. “Have you talked to Veronica at all?”

Archie looks a little surprised that she’s asking, but doesn’t hesitate to answer. “Not since graduation. You?” Betty shakes her head no. Then he asks, “What about Jughead?” She guesses that neither of them have really let go of the guilt of that betrayal.

Jughead is much more complicated of a situation. With Veronica it was a clean break. She graduated, moved to New York City, maybe never even thought of Betty again. And while that stings a little, she’s accepted it. But she’s always going to have to face Jughead because of their parents. There’s no escaping it. “Only when I go home and he’s there,” Betty says.

Archie nods a little. He thinks for a second, scooting the tiniest bit closer to her on the bed. “We really fucked up back then, huh?” Betty doesn’t respond. He already knows the answer. “We could have fucked up again, if it wasn’t for you. Thankfully one of us has some foresight.” He chuckles humorlessly, moving his hand up to play with her hair. She smiles at that.

“Well, always being the one to let Archie Andrews down isn’t an easy burden to bear,” she tries to joke, but his face falls.

“You’re not letting me down. You were right. About all of it. It’s not the right time. No matter how much that fucking sucks,” he tells her seriously, his words nothing more than a whisper because of how close they are. She doesn’t think she’s ever experienced a moment more intimate than this in her life. “You’re my best friend in the world, and I would never want to do anything to ruin that. So if this is all we get for now, then… okay.”

“Okay.” She kisses him. When she pulls away, she says earnestly, “Thanks for coming.”

He smiles softly, kissing her cheek. “Anytime.”

When she’s starting to drift off to sleep a little while later, tangled up in him, he says it. “How do you think you know when the timing is right?”

She rolls over to look at him. The sincerity on his face makes her ache all over. She thinks about it for a moment. “I think you just know.”

\--

Archie leaves the next morning. She stays strong as she watches him pack his bag. She stays strong as they eat breakfast together at her kitchen table. She stays strong because she knows he’s trying to stay strong, too, and she doesn’t want to make this any harder than it already is. She finally lets herself cry a little when he kisses her goodbye, because she can’t hold back anymore. She’s tired of having to say goodbye to him.

It’s not until a few hours later when she finds the note left on her desk. She doesn’t know when he even wrote it, but it was quick judging by his messy handwriting.

It’s nothing like the one he wrote for her two years ago. No apologies, no grand declarations of love. It’s simple, but it breaks her heart all the same.

_Love you. See you when I see you._

She breaks down then, thinking of those same words he’d left her with before. There’s still just as much uncertainty now between them as there was then.

She stays in bed all day, feeling miserable and sorry for herself. Archie texts her when his train gets back later in the day, because she asked him to. She doesn’t know what happens now, where they go from here. _See you when I see you,_ she repeats over and over in her head like a mantra.

* * *

Archie walks through the door, the bell jingling over his head in a way that is still so familiar to him even now. Pop’s looks exactly the same, even though it’s been years since he’s been here. He’s been back in Riverdale for nearly a month now, but hasn’t stepped foot in this place for a reason. He’s hit with a rush of nostalgia immediately, something he hasn’t exactly been welcome to the idea of experiencing. Some of his best memories were made here. Some of his worst ones were, too.

He orders a strawberry milkshake and takes a seat at the booth they used to frequent in high school. He spent countless days sitting here with Betty, Jughead, and Veronica. Things are much different now. He hasn’t spoken to Veronica or Jughead since before he even left this town the first time.

And Betty… well, she’s still Betty. Still his best friend, no matter what. He still talks to her every once in a while, never letting too much time pass without calling her or picking up when she calls him. He’d never let her stray too far away from him. But he hasn’t seen her since he visited her at Yale. She was right about things getting a lot more complicated after that – it was hard being apart, knowing how they both felt, even though it was what was right. But like she said, there was nothing they could do about it. Back then, they had two years left of college, and he had years in the Navy ahead of him. But he still missed her. It was still tough. It didn’t make him love her any less.

He never would have expected being discharged after only a few months of serving, returning back to Riverdale to care for his mom. When she found out she had cancer and had to begin treatment, Archie knew he had a choice to make. But it wasn’t really a choice at all, in the end – his mother was sick and she needed him, and he’d already lost one parent. So now he’s back in Riverdale indefinitely.

He’s taking a sip of his milkshake when he hears it. “Archie?”

His head whips up at that voice he probably couldn’t ever forget. 

Veronica Lodge stands a few feet away, looking back at him with shock written all over her face. Dressed in all black, dark curls falling down her shoulders. She looks more mature, but still the same Veronica he knew years ago.

“Ronnie,” Archie says, still trying to process that she’s there in front of him. It’s the first time he’s said that name in almost five years.

“Hi.” She says apprehensively. He guesses she’s in just as much disbelief as he is. “How are you?”

“I’m good.” Archie tells her. “How about you?”

“Good.” It feels weird having this kind of small talk with her, but then he has to remind himself that they’re strangers now. He doesn’t really know what to expect – the last conversation they ever had was about him cheating on her with their best friend. He doesn’t know how this is going to go. But she walks closer then, motioning to the seat across from him. “Can I sit?”

So he guesses she isn’t angry anymore. That’s good to know. He’s spent a long time feeling guilty for what he did to her in high school, how badly he hurt her. Even if she’s forgiven him now, it’s still a punch in the gut to be reminded. He’s sure it is for her, too. “Of course.”

She sits, placing a chocolate milkshake on the table in front of her, glancing at his. “I guess we had the same idea.” Archie laughs, taking another sip. “I’m surprised to see you here. Did you come for the wedding?

That answers his question of why she’s in town. Cheryl and Toni’s wedding is this weekend. He was invited as well, he guesses they all were. Veronica, Reggie, probably even Jughead. Betty was too, but last time they talked she told him she couldn’t make it because of work.

“No,” Archie starts, not sure if he even wants to bring it up but deciding to anyways. “I’ve been back for a little while. My mom… she’s sick.”

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry, Archie.” Veronica sighs, sympathy laced in her words. 

“Thanks,” he says, because what else can he say? He changes the subject before she can ask any more questions. “So I take it you’re back for the wedding, then?”

Veronica nods from across from him. For a second, he feels like he’s in some kind of time warp, like he’s back in high school again. There was a time when sitting in this booth with Veronica was the most normal thing in the world to him, but it just feels strange now. “Are you going?” She asks.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“It’ll be a little weird,” Veronica says, tapping her fingers on the table. “Kind of like a high school reunion, right? Just five years early.”

“Yeah,” Archie laughs, “exactly like that.”

She smiles at him kindly. He watches as she thinks for a moment, her smile slightly falling. Then she asks, “So how’s Betty?”

He can’t tell what her intention is, asking that – if it’s really just an innocent question because she genuinely wants to know, or if there’s an underlying pettiness to it. He examines her to try to figure it out, and finds he can’t read her nearly as well as he used to be able to.

“She’s good,” he responds.

That’s not an adequate enough answer for her. She pushes further. “So you guys still talk?”

Archie sighs. He wants to say _yes, of course we talk, she’s my best friend._ Or maybe _yes, we still talk, because we’ve been in love with each other all along._ But he’s not cruel, so instead he says, “Sometimes.”

She raises her eyebrows, nodding a little. He can tell she wants to know more, but more isn’t something he’s willing to give. Whatever has happened between him and Betty is private, and special, and something he doesn’t particularly feel like sharing with Veronica in a booth at Pop’s over milkshakes.

Before she can say anything else, he asks, “How’s New York?”

Her face immediately lights up at that. She starts talking about the fashion label she started working at after she graduated from Barnard, and it makes him smile. He’s glad she’s finally back where she belongs. She was never meant for a place like Riverdale.

Just as Veronica starts asking him about the Navy, the bell above the door jingles again, like it has countless times since he sat down. But this time he looks up. Veronica’s voice drowns out, blending in with the background noise.

And there she is. Betty Cooper. His best friend.

She turns her head right when he looks at her, catching his eyes. She smiles at him, and he just knows.


End file.
